En obeskriflig hiärtats rörelse : havandeskapsdiskussioner i religiös och medicinsk litteratur under 1700-talet
(2023) HISS33 20231History
- Abstract
- The aim of this thesis is to explore how people in 18th century Sweden understood emotional and bodily experiences of pregnant women. By combining devotional books with manuals for childbirth and obstetrics, the separation of theological and medical perspectives by previous historical research is questioned. Instead, ideas about pregnancy and the pregnant body are situated in a religious-medical setting that was familiar to people of the early modern period. Nine books from 1698 to 1803 make up the primary source material. These books, which were written with the intention to be read by pregnant women, are regarded as public literature. A hypothesis is that there have been different methods to deal with the experience of carrying a fetus... (More)
- The aim of this thesis is to explore how people in 18th century Sweden understood emotional and bodily experiences of pregnant women. By combining devotional books with manuals for childbirth and obstetrics, the separation of theological and medical perspectives by previous historical research is questioned. Instead, ideas about pregnancy and the pregnant body are situated in a religious-medical setting that was familiar to people of the early modern period. Nine books from 1698 to 1803 make up the primary source material. These books, which were written with the intention to be read by pregnant women, are regarded as public literature. A hypothesis is that there have been different methods to deal with the experience of carrying a fetus and bringing a child into the world. In the 18th century infant mortality was high and a woman in labour was at risk of dying during or in the aftermath of childbirth. Two theoretical perspectives are used to understand early modern corporeality and emotional practices: the history of emotions and the history of the body, respectively. Ideas from scholars of phenomenology, historical theories about the heart as symbol and organ, and theories of what praying meant for the early modern individual, both physically and emotionally, are found in the thesis. Given that a pregnancy consists of a bodily union between two individuals these approaches are fruitful to understand the emotional corporeality of pregnancy. Except for Cristina Hiärnes diary, no sources offer insight into the private thoughts of a pregnant woman in Sweden during the period. Therefore, the thesis cannot establish what pregnant women felt. Instead, priests’ and physicians’ understanding of pregnancy, respectively, is presented and interpreted: What happened with the body? What did pregnancy feel like? What emotions did it evoke in the pregnant woman? By using hope and suffering as concepts of emotion, the thesis shows that a pregnant woman was believed and expected to feel a certain way about her unborn baby. The child was part of God’s creation, and a soon to be Christian individual in the Lutheran community. The thesis also shows that the notion of quickening was relevant in the understanding of the fetus animation and soul, discussion about the meaning of baptism among Swedish scholars and the idea that the immanent power of a pregnant woman’s thoughts and feelings could endanger the fetus. Most importantly the thesis proves that the conception of pregnancy in 18th century Sweden was that a pregnant woman carried another soul in her womb. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9122708
- author
- Crona, Elsa LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- HISS33 20231
- year
- 2023
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- havandeskap, barnafödande, andaktslitteratur, medicinska handböcker, kroppens historia, känslohistoria, obstetrik, medicin, religion, foster, själ, Cristina Charlotta Hiärne, 1700-tal, reproduktionshistoria
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9122708
- date added to LUP
- 2023-10-02 15:01:35
- date last changed
- 2023-10-02 15:01:35
@misc{9122708,
abstract = {{The aim of this thesis is to explore how people in 18th century Sweden understood emotional and bodily experiences of pregnant women. By combining devotional books with manuals for childbirth and obstetrics, the separation of theological and medical perspectives by previous historical research is questioned. Instead, ideas about pregnancy and the pregnant body are situated in a religious-medical setting that was familiar to people of the early modern period. Nine books from 1698 to 1803 make up the primary source material. These books, which were written with the intention to be read by pregnant women, are regarded as public literature. A hypothesis is that there have been different methods to deal with the experience of carrying a fetus and bringing a child into the world. In the 18th century infant mortality was high and a woman in labour was at risk of dying during or in the aftermath of childbirth. Two theoretical perspectives are used to understand early modern corporeality and emotional practices: the history of emotions and the history of the body, respectively. Ideas from scholars of phenomenology, historical theories about the heart as symbol and organ, and theories of what praying meant for the early modern individual, both physically and emotionally, are found in the thesis. Given that a pregnancy consists of a bodily union between two individuals these approaches are fruitful to understand the emotional corporeality of pregnancy. Except for Cristina Hiärnes diary, no sources offer insight into the private thoughts of a pregnant woman in Sweden during the period. Therefore, the thesis cannot establish what pregnant women felt. Instead, priests’ and physicians’ understanding of pregnancy, respectively, is presented and interpreted: What happened with the body? What did pregnancy feel like? What emotions did it evoke in the pregnant woman? By using hope and suffering as concepts of emotion, the thesis shows that a pregnant woman was believed and expected to feel a certain way about her unborn baby. The child was part of God’s creation, and a soon to be Christian individual in the Lutheran community. The thesis also shows that the notion of quickening was relevant in the understanding of the fetus animation and soul, discussion about the meaning of baptism among Swedish scholars and the idea that the immanent power of a pregnant woman’s thoughts and feelings could endanger the fetus. Most importantly the thesis proves that the conception of pregnancy in 18th century Sweden was that a pregnant woman carried another soul in her womb.}},
author = {{Crona, Elsa}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{En obeskriflig hiärtats rörelse : havandeskapsdiskussioner i religiös och medicinsk litteratur under 1700-talet}},
year = {{2023}},
}